I have been thinking a lot about how my latest work acted as a starting point for conversation. This has led me to thinking about how other artists consider the viewer's interaction with their work, and how their approach and ideas behind this could inform my own practice. With this in mind, I have been researching the work of curator and writer, Claire Doherty. She is the director of 'Situations', which is an award-winning art commissioning organisation established in 2002. Situations produces artworks, projects and events in the public realm as they feel that public art has the potential to create inspiring experiences. They also believe that public art can be the beginning of a conversation which may change the way people think about and interact with the world around us.
Claire Doherty has also contributed a chapter to the latest Art & Theory Publication, Imagining the Audience, Viewing Positions in artistic and Curatorial Practice. The new title is about the role of the audience in artistic and curatorial practice. Based on specific examples, recognised artists and curators present how they imagine the individual viewer's mental, physical and emotional experience of the arts event. In curational terms, 'Situations' are looking at the strategies of involving the audience in terms of dramaturgy or choreography of an exhibition, how a change of context or situation will alter the experience of the viewer, how spatial, temporary and other aspects are created within the curatorial craft of constructing the situation of the audience.
This idea of participatory practice is something which really inspires me within my own work. The thought that my art could have such a powerful effect as to change a persons perception of something or be the beginning of a discussion, is extremely exciting. Also, presenting my work in a suitable environment is something which is becoming more and more important within my practice. My latest presentation of my work, where I took it into a Secondary School, was extremely rewarding with regards to contextualising my work and getting feedback from a wider, critical audience.
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